China increases censorship and blocks WhatsApp

China blocks WhatsApp following with its censorship: controlling the information and paving the way to WeChat and QQ

In 2017 there are still countries that do not tolerate free entry and exit of information, and China has been the best representative of this for some years along with North Korea and other states. Now seems to be the turn to one of the most popular messaging apps worldwide, as China has partially blocked WhatsApp service.

The news has relevance not only because it is the most active monthly messenger service in the world, but because it is the third service that is blocked to the empire of Zuckerberg and in this case is to leave the inhabitants of the country without a encrypted communication system. Something that happens soon after a VPN blockage was announced for 2018, although later denied it.

Apparently the blockade is partial, as we said at the beginning, given that text messages can get sent but not those carrying video, photos or audios. However, The Guardian says there are already service users in China who complain of a total blockade, which does not even let text messages pass.

Thus, WhatsApp would happen to be inside the “Great Firewall”, that is as it denominates to the totality of the blockages of web pages, services and platforms. Instagram or YouTube are also there. A lock not only allows better control of information entering and leaving the country, but also helps domestic products like QQ or WeChat grow more easily.

Although it has sometimes seemed that China abandoned the idea of maintaining the blockade in some field, the fact is that most of the time when we get data on this issue is not to remove restrictions, but to increase or compensate for their existence. Not long ago we actually talk about the idea of creating Chinese Wikipedia, which they have been blocking since 2005.